c. 1590

With dense, curly hair and a strap-like beard and mustache, this bust is a Renaissance interpretation of a once-popular Roman portrait believed to be of the Emperor Hadrian (r. AD 117-138). A great patron of the arts and in the Renaissance celebrated as one of Rome’s ‘five good emperors,’ Hadrian was also known for his Philhellenism. One such manifestation of his admiration for Greek culture is his beard and mustache, which he wore to fashion himself as a Greek philosopher. The emperor’s example made facial hair chic once again among the Roman elite. Beards remained all the rage for almost a century.